Page 39 of Pack Favero

The drive to Barnes’ home goes by in comfort, filled with the occasional small talk, switching up the music every now and then, and generally enjoying each other's company. I bask in our combined scents, finding myself completely and utterly at ease around him, and I wonder if a big part of that is because we crossed a threshold there’s no skipping back over, or because I’ve had marinating feelings for this man since he first caught my eye all those months ago. Pretty sure I might have fallen for him a little when he and Lazarus appeared at the hospital when I needed someone the most, and the hiccup we’ve had in between has done very little to eradicate those feelings. In fact, they've only grown in size, and I’m pretty sure they’ve latched on to the whole pack now.

“You look lost in thought over there,” the handsome alpha notes, looking over at me before turning down the gravel road that will lead us to his pack’s house.

I flash him a smile and shrug. “I was just thinking how natural this all feels, how it makes sense. I don’t feel at ease around many people, especially not men with bank accounts bigger than their heads, but with you guys I feel like this is where I was meant to be all along. Makes me feel a little silly when I think about the time I wasted being unreasonably mad at you and Laz.”

Barnes flashes me a grin and shakes his head. “Don’t feelbad, Freckles. We’re here now, right?”

I hum. “You’re right.”

“Oh, I like those words coming from your mouth,” he teases, leaning in to give me a sweet, lingering kiss before pulling back when my belly rumbles again. I can’t be sure if it’s rumbling for food or him, but Barnes chuckles before reaching for the food in the back seat and climbs out of the car.

Seconds later, he’s holding my door open for me just as I reach for it myself, and I flash him a grin, accepting another kiss before he leads me up the steps and into the lavish house I’ve missed.

Their scents hit me as soon as the door opens, and my sigh must be loud enough to catch Barnes’s attention, because he smiles warmly at me and whispers, “Welcome home, Zira.”

Home. Godsdamn if that word doesn’t sound beautiful to my ears.

“Honey, we’re home,” Barnes calls as he takes the food to the kitchen, and I follow after him as I wait for the sound of life to reach us.

Sure enough, it comes moments later when Lazarus appears from the study I know to be downstairs, glasses sitting on the tip of his nose and his dark hair peppered with strands of gray that look soft to the touch.

With his charming English accent, Laz eyes me and says, “Zira. I didn’t realize you were coming over.”

“We brought dinner,” I smile, watching as he comes over to the kitchen and leans in to offer me a kiss to the cheek as he has done since I offered my apology. Only, instead of the brief peck it usually is, he lingers for a moment longer, his hand falling to my waist. I’m pretty sure I hear him inhale, too, before he eventually pulls away and glances at Barnes.

“You bloody bastard. You couldn’t have warned us?” Laz sighs at his packmate, his hand still pressed against the bare skinof my waist, his heat seeping into me welcomingly.

“What? What happened?” I ask, but Barnes only laughs.

“Where’s the fun in that?” he shrugs, winking at me before dropping his gaze to where he’s been kissing and rubbing all day.

Oh.Oooh.Okay. Gotcha.

Alphas huh? What can you do?

“You couldn’t have scent marked her more if you tried,” Laz grumbles, tugging me closer, as though he doesn’t realize he’s doing it.

Barnes eyes me lasciviously, and I bite back my smile, not wanting to encourage him but finding it entirely too funny. “I could have, but we had places to be.”

“Oh my god,” I laugh, feeling my cheeks heat as I slap a hand over my face. “Would you stop already? Alek is already going to—”

“What’s Alek going to do?” the Viking in question asks as he steps into the kitchen, only to pause when he sees how close Lax and I are, and where Barnes is unloading the food in the kitchen. “Hey, little lady. You look… unscathed.”

Then the mountain of a man inhales, loudly, and I sink deeper into Laz as mortification washes over my face. There’s no disguising what Barnes and I have been up to, despite the shower I took before visiting Mom, because I’ve discovered Barnes scent marks like his life depends on it. The alpha came enough that I’ll be smelling of him for at least a week straight and there’s simply no escaping it.

“You rotten fucker,” Alek suddenly gasps dramatically, and I can’t help the giggle that escapes my lips when Barnes outright laughs at the man. Like, full on belly laughs, a wheeze escaping him when he finds it so funny that no words escape. “You said you were taking her on a date!”

“It was a date,” I defend, then pause. “A couch date.” Ipause again, wincing. “A no-clothes couch date.”

Laz snorts as he presses his forehead against my temple and whispers in my ear, “That’s a lot of words to say you didn’t even make it past the front door, darling.”

I bite my lip, my shoulders shaking with amusement, and the man still hugging me to him chuckles before pressing another kiss to my cheek before releasing. I miss his heat already, and he winks at me as he claps Barnes on the back, calling over his shoulder, “Anyone for a cuppa?”

Alek, ignoring the older alpha of the bunch, shakes his head at Barnes and narrows his eyes playfully at him. “You think you know a man. This proves that you can’t trust anyone these days. No one is who they make out to be. I’ve been betrayed.”

“So dramatic,” I snicker, heading over to help Barnes with the food before I’m snagged around the waist so suddenly my sneaker-covered feet defy the art of gravity. I’m airborne and hauled into a meaty chest before I can utter another word, nothing but a squeak escaping me in shock. Alek’s voice is louder from where I currently dangle in his arms as he says, “Two can play at that game, fucker.”

With no warning, Alek is suddenly blowing raspberries into the opposite side of my neck that Barnes didn’t scent mark as thoroughly, leaving his neroli and basil aroma all over my skin. I’m laughing hysterically, his stubble tickling my skin as he kisses, nips, and blows more raspberries all over what skin he can reach.

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